CYBER CAPABILITIES AND NATIONAL POWER: A Net Assessment 125
11. North Korea
North Korea’s cyber strategy is probably not formal-
ised and its operations have been characterised by
opportunism. Lile is known of its cyber-policy eco-
system. Since 2015 its publicly revealed cyber activity
has consisted mainly of large-scale cyber fraud and
extortion as a way of bolstering the country’s access
to hard currency. It has also carried out acts of cyber
sabotage, including in retaliation for perceived insults
to the leadership of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party.
Control of cyber policy is rmly in the hands of the
leadership, operating through the structures of the
party and the armed forces. North Korea lacks any
sophisticated cyber-intelligence capability. It has a
basic digital ecosystem, with between three and ve
million devices connected to internal mobile net-
works, including via a government intranet. Access
to the global internet is strictly controlled by the
government and depends on a very small number of
gateways provided by Chinese and Russian service
providers – a lack of diversity that makes the con-
nections highly vulnerable to disruption. The coun-
try’s level of cyber security is among the lowest in
the world. North Korea’s undertakings in cyberspace
are hampered by a low cyber-skills base, largely the
result of its self-imposed isolation, weak education
system and underdeveloped ICT sector. It has played
almost no part in global cyber diplomacy and has few
international relationships to support its cyber ambi-
tions. Despite its penchant for conducting oensive
cyber operations, the techniques used are relatively
basic, as it lacks the capability for sustained or sophis-
ticated operations. Overall, though its cyber opera-
tions have achieved some global notoriety, North
Korea is a third-tier cyber power.
List of acronyms
ICT information and communications technology
KWP Korean Workers’ Party
RGB Reconnaissance General Bureau
Strategy and doctrine
There is lile evidence that North Korea has a formal
cyber strategy or doctrine. Its approach can be gleaned
partly from statements by the leadership, but conclu-
sions must otherwise be based on its observed activity.
The statements suggest North Korea has a mixture of
grandiose and more conventional ideas about the use of
cyber operations during military conict. The observed
activity suggests the country’s priorities are domestic
surveillance, threatening South Korea, stealing money
to gain access to hard currency otherwise unavailable
because of nancial and trade sanctions, classic espio-
nage (especially relating to strategic weapons systems),
and the occasional high-prole use of cyber operations
to score retaliatory geopolitical points.
According to South Korean sources, North Korean
leader Kim Jong-un views cyber power as central to
modern political and military competition.
1
He is also
reported to have said prior to 2013 that ‘cyber warfare is
an all-purpose sword that guarantees the North Korean
People’s Armed Forces ruthless striking capability,
